Meanwhile, the celebration in the garden was organized for members of the Church of Sun in Londan. Coming to celebrate Vera’s birthday, the musclemen gathered with concentrated heat, while their spouses and family gathered on the other side. Their stark difference made it seem like they didn’t belong to the same church.

Wayne and his future father-in-law, Cushing, had their arms around each other. After downing two glasses of potent distilled spirits, Cushing trapped Wayne in the triangle formed by his tricep, bicep, and pectoral muscles. “Young Wayne, I’ll entrust my daughter to you. You must treat her well.”

“Don’t worry, Brother Cushing, I’d rather suffer than let her get hurt.”

Cushing burst into tears. An uninformed bystander would think this was a wedding.

(눈_눈)

Valkyrie stared at the good bros talking about marriage, flabbergasted. She didn’t understand why the church had suddenly become like this after her long nap. Each generation was worse than the last one. If the Church of Heavenly Father invaded in great numbers now, supported by angels who had descended to the human world, would the church be able to defend against their holy lances and swords?

ε=(′д`*)))

Life was hard. With a sigh, the knight retreated to stand behind a tree, hoping that by putting them out of her sight, they would be out of her mind.

Just then, Filomina, the most stunning person in the area, came over with the twins. Her powerful presence not only scared away the women, who worried about being compared to her if they stood too close. However, even the musclemen had unconsciously detached themselves from their bromantic partners.

Wayne stiffened. Just in case, he sent an SOS signal with his thoughts.

“Mina, why are you here?”

Wayne pushed the strong arm off his shoulder. Under Cushing’s confused gaze, he walked up to Filomina. She openly grabbed his arm.

“You’re celebrating your birthday today. What’s wrong with celebrating with you as your girlfriend? I’ve seen your parents,” Filomina said gently but provocatively.

The musclemen of the Church of Sun raised their fists, glaring at the High Reverend for crashing the party. They waited for Cushing to slam a cup down as a signal to rush Filomina... and bleed all over her.

What else? Could they defeat a legendary mage with their wrestling skills? Of course not. The legendary mage only had to use her vitality field, and they would all meet their end.

Cushing was angry, but not that angry. His instinct told him that Wayne had his reasons, and everything could be explained. The successor of the Sun Knight was obviously toying with Moonlight’s High Reverend, which was a win for the Church of Sun.

“You’re making things difficult for me, Miss.” Wayne’s scalp tingled. He put an arm around Filomina’s waist and pulled her to a quiet spot behind a tree, only to see a set of knight armor. He said awkwardly, “Valkyrie, mind giving us some space?”

Valkyrie couldn’t believe him. She mumbled about the goddess’s careless choice before yielding the spot to them.

“What is the meaning of this, Mina? This isn’t my birthday.”

“What? You can celebrate another girlfriend’s birthday at home, but I can’t participate?” Filomina rolled her eyes at him. “Or have you never cared about me, so there’s no place for me here?”

The harsh accusation left Wayne speechless. This wasn’t Filomina’s fault. He, the scumbag, should take full responsibility.

When he said nothing, Filomina scoffed and lifted her veil to put a kiss print on his face. “Don’t wipe it off. I’ll check after an hour.”

With that, she left with her two bodyguards.

They hadn’t gone far, but instead headed to the study on the second floor of the main house. Under Kristen’s invitation, Filomina had come to tour Wayne’s residence and meet her fellow soldiers in the same ditch.

They got on well enough. With Kristen vouching for Filomina, Veronica found the new general agreeable. She was needed for future marches.

Vera disagreed. No honorable person would be willing to serve under other people for long. Filomina, with all her defiant bones, would certainly become a major enemy in the future.

While the twins guarded the door, the four women gathered at the window in the second-floor study, looking down and taking in the entire garden.

Before the window, Filomina couldn’t accept falling so far that she would be playing house with three little girls. But then the butler led a woman in a black robe into the garden, whom Wayne took to the blindspot behind the tree.

All four women hissed.

“That’s her, Holy Maiden Anastasia of the Church of Darkness.”

“Aren’t Holy Maidens supposed to remain pure for the goddesses? Why would she choose corruption?”

“Holy Maidens can resign. She’s remained at her post for many years. It’s only natural that she would want to build a different life.”

“How’s that natural? What if the goddess picks the wrong person one day? Would She see everything then?”

The four women muttered among themselves. Before Filomina could peek in with her thoughts, Wayne and Anastasia emerged from behind the tree.

Things seemed normal at first glance, but take a closer look, and one thing would stand out: the kiss print on Wayne’s face had been wiped off.

“What did I say? The Holy Maiden of the Church of Darkness has fallen!”

“In only a few days, we’ll hear the news of the Church of Darkness selecting a new Holy Maiden. If you don’t believe me, let’s have a bet.”

“Then you’ll win big.”

After Anastasia departed, the four women sat down in the study.

“Strange. Why would the Holy Maiden of Darkness come to my birthday celebration?” Vera asked. “Do I know her?”

“It doesn’t matter. The fact that she’s here proves everything.” Filomina glanced at Kristen worriedly, remembering their bet. She cursed silently at Anastasia for her sacrilegious actions. It was a great disrespect to the Goddess of Darkness; once the Church of Darkness was informed, they would find all the evidence.

“Still, it’s too much of a coincidence that she showed up now.” Vera cocked her head. “Maybe Wayne called her over to put on the act for us?”

“Very likely, but why would she just show up because Wayne called her?” Filomina countered.

“...”

Filomina continued, “Even if she’s willing to do Wayne a favor, there’s no reason for her to leave a stain on her track record as the Holy Maiden. She has to feel something for him to do this.”

She went on and on about her conspiracy theories. The three younger women nodded vehemently, soon reaching a verbal agreement for an alliance.

With Senna and then Anastasia threatening them on both fronts, they would only have a bright future by banding together.

It was proven that while four heads could be better than one, the gathering of more heads could also lower the collective intelligence. Filomina, for example, increased the average beauty of the group while quieting Vera’s voice, and thus, their already insufficient intelligence was lowered further.

***

Wayne’s residence, October seventeenth.

Valkyrie didn’t understand the current criteria for chosen knights, so she gave up on correcting Wayne, instead pouring all her effort into teaching Vera. She kept her in the back garden to train her swordsmanship.

Since it was the dragonslaying swordsmanship, Vera was entirely devoted to learning it.

Standing in the study, Darienne took in the entire manor with a raised eyebrow. “I didn’t expect the Lando family to keep such a low profile. Your house isn’t as big as I expected.”

“Um, this isn’t the Lando family, but my home.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean it literally.”

Wayne shrugged. Chosen knights were so powerful that they didn’t have to worry about money. Therefore, Darienne had no metrics for judging wealth. She had also been disconnected from the material world for so long that she couldn’t imagine the wealth of nobility.

She didn’t dwell on the question. Just like Anastasia, Darienne didn’t care about material life, much less how big the Lando Estate was. She only brought it up to tease her successor.

“I’ve forged the Dragontooth Swords—thirty-six in total. I’m keeping four for myself. You can have the rest.”

“That many?”

“That’s not a lot. Think about how big the great dragon’s remains were. It was piled up into a mountain.”

Darienne explained, “My thoughts could only reduce the material to thirty-six Dragontooth Swords, no further. It’s my limit, not the limit of the swords. Once your thoughts become greater than mine, you’ll be able to reforge the swords, condensing the entire mountain of bones into a single blade.”

Wayne nodded. That would be another minor goal for him.

“Darienne, I’m a Gold-ranked mage, and the Legendary rank is supposed to be my next step. However, there doesn’t seem to be any difference between a legendary mage’s existence and a Gold-ranked mage’s. I’m just supposed to accumulate my life, void, and self on the existing foundation until the accumulation leads to a substantial change. Do you have any wisdom to share with me?”

“The Golden Triangle is the basis of balance and the prerequisite for a mage to explore the Astral Plane,” Darienne said. “At this stage, you gain the possibility to reject knowledge...”

When her successor posed a question about magical theory, she became uncharacteristically serious. “Hexagram and Silver Cross are meant to lay down the foundation for the Golden Triangle. Similarly, the Gold and Legendary ranks are the preparatory stages for demigodhood. Legendary mages are still humans, while demigods are something else entirely.”

“Are chosen knights demigods?”

“You can say that.” Darienne nodded. “But I only became a demigod because of White Night Creed. While I can easily defeat many demigods, the power comes from the sword, granted by the goddess. My existence was lifted to demigod-level artificially.”

“What if you lose White Night Creed?”

“I’m already a demigod now because of the influence of White Night Creed,” Darienne explained what made the chosen knights special. When Wayne still seemed somewhat confused, she added, “Don’t overthink it. You’re just supposed to train further now. The stronger you are, the more powerful White Night Creed will become. The divine artifacts of the five chosen knights are equal in level, while the five chosen knights differ in strength. Do you understand now?”

“Somewhat.”

“You’re still thinking too much...” Darienne made a thoughtful sound, saying solemnly, “You yearn for progress too much, Wayne. It’s both a good thing and a bad thing. Control your desires and don’t let them drive you. Take steady steps from Gold to Legendary. It’s crucial to your future.”

The aloof beauty instructed Wayne like a real master, her tone brimming with her concern for her successor. He developed a newfound respect for her and found in her a resemblance to his first love.

“Wayne, I’m leaving in a week. Spend more time playing cards with me until then, and don’t go anywhere.”

“Are you heading back to the Frozen Land for your shift?”

“No, I’m going somewhere else.” Darienne lifted an eyebrow. “Have you heard of the mirror world? It’s a reverse world corresponding to the Chosen Land, a world of despair that’s filled with darkness, cruelty, and negativity. It’s also known as the Inner World.”

“Um, I’ve heard of it.” Wayne remembered the ‘Wayne’ in the Inner World, who was also the real successor of the Death Knight. He asked curiously, “Why are you going there, Darienne? It sounds dangerous.”

“It’s the goddess’s oracle. I’m supposed to find something there.” She didn’t say what mission it was or what she was looking for. Patting Wayne’s shoulder, she said, “The Inner World is dangerous for legendary mages, but for a demigod like me, it’s only a large trashcan. I’ll be back soon. Wait for me to return for more card—”

“Stop!”

“What?”

“Don’t say that,” Wayne said, sweating. “You’re making it sound like you won’t be back.”

“Ha, who are you looking down on?!”